1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector with a lock arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H07-282884 discloses a connector with a lock arm for holding a mating connector in a connected state. This connector has a housing and the lock arm is cantilevered from the front of the upper surface of the housing. The lock arm engages an engaging portion of the mating connector to hold the connectors in a connected state.
The housing is made of a synthetic resin and is molded integrally with the lock arm. A portion of the lock arm projects up from the housing and tends to enlarge the connector in a height direction.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H05-182712 and FIG. 25 herein show another connector with a lock arm. With reference to FIG. 25, this connector has a male housing 1 with a receptacle 2 for receiving a female housing 3. A lock arm 4 is cantilevered integrally from the upper surface of the female housing 3 and is engageable with an engaging portion 5 on an upper part 2a of the receptacle 2 to hold the two housings 1, 3 in their connected state. However, this connector also is large along the height direction since the lock arm 4 and the upper part 2a of the receptacle 2 are placed one over the other in the connected state.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a connector suitable for the miniaturization.